The End Where I Begin
by DamnedSeduction
Summary: Can the savage beast make way for a man to surface or will the monster take control with its promises of the red elixir he so often craves?
1. Prologue

He emerged slowly, cautiously from the shadows, almost as if he were expecting his fate. My gaze fixed on him, a slow ache churning within my gut at the thought of what I was going to do to this boy. Bright crimson eyes flickered frantically about the barn in which we stood before settling upon me. Dark hair framed those eyes, tangled and dirty after our last battle. The boy was young, only about 15 when he turned, which made this all the worse.

A shock of panic went through me at that moment, though not of my own. He was going to run, I knew it. Quickly I interceded, though my body hadn't moved an inch yet. Induced with a cloud of peaceful calm, the boy relaxed, his eyes losing that sense of fear and his body becoming less tense. Granted, he still knew what was going to happen but while at the mercy of my gift, he was powerless.

Slowly, I took a step forward, toward the boy. He looked into my coal colored eyes and in the next instant I was behind him, one arm around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides while the other went for his chin, the perfect hand hold. It was hard work, keeping the calm serenity that I placed in him steady, but I managed. Hay floated back down toward the ground in the place I once stood, the only evidence of my presence there.

When he began to struggle I knew I couldn't keep up the thin layer of calm any longer. I let it go, concentrating on the task before me instead. Though his panic was renewed, he still was no match for me. He wrenched away from me, struggling to free himself from my grip but it was too late. With a quick pull of my arm, I performed my task, a snapping sound ripped through the air followed by a hollow thud. A limp corpse now lay at my feet, its head a few feet away. The sight sickened me to my very core, the sound of his death ringing in my ears long after it was gone; I had ended another innocent life.

For a few minutes I just stood there, letting the height of what I had done sink into me, letting my self wallow in self pity, but my time was cut short. I had a job to finish. Grabbing the ruins off the ground, I carried them outside into hot, dry air of the South. A fire was blazing just outside, purple smoke rising from it in columns, swirling into the night sky, obscuring the stars where it was thick with the fog. The others that were of no use any longer were being burned here, the final stage of their life and of their death. I tossed the deadened weight into the scalding flames with ease, watching silently as glowing ashes erupted from it, floating up into the air where they burned out. Soon the smoke thickened further, the sickly sweet scent of death filling the air and burning my nose, another reminder of what I'd done.

I stood there for a long time, simply watching the flames, arms folded tightly over my chest. Images flowed endlessly through my mind of each person I killed over the decades, both mortal and immortal, each face passing through my mind so quickly until they're nothing but a blur. I can feel their last seconds of emotion as clearly as my own: fear, pain, panic, horror. All of the emotions of looking upon a monster. This was my life; this was all I knew, all I had known for decades. In order to live, you had to fight, you had to kill. There just was no other way to do it.


	2. Reward

"Well done, Jasper," She stood before me in a long white dress, much like the one she wore when I first came upon her. Her black hair fell in soft curls down her back and silver hoops gleamed from her ears in the moonlight. Bright red eyes, the color of fresh blood appraised me, taking in my tattered clothing and my unruly blonde hair that continually fell into my eyes. My eyes glowed the same crimson as her own and my face was expressionless, the face of a soldier.

I bowed my head forward respectfully at her compliment, able to feel the excitement emanating from each of the newborns behind me, drunk in success. "Thank you, Maria." My head lifted just in time to see her full pink lips pull into the smallest hint of a smile as she waved her hand, dismissing the fighters behind me.

"Come," she told me, her voice piercing the air with its musical perfection, "You deserve a reward for your victory." Maria turned, the white fabric of her dress billowing out around her as she moved, obviously expecting me to follow. I fell into step behind her, my hands folded neatly behind my back as we walked through the dry night. She was so graceful, gliding along without seeming to place a foot on the ground - A goddess in her own right, though a deadly one at that.

A soft breeze picked up, causing the few shrubs around to sway to one side and Maria's hair to lift slightly in the breeze. Her scent filled my nose, sweet with a hint of spice to it. Beneath that was the always tempting scent of blood, the elixir that offered me eternity. Despite the blood I had already consumed tonight, the scent still caused the incessant flame to ignite in my throat once more. Maria and I climbed up to the top of a hill where one lone tree stood, bare of any greenery. From here you could see almost everything for miles. I could see where the other newborns had set up camp, a couple fires lighting up as the only indicators to where we were. From those fires arose smoke, swirling upward to the large expanse of the sky.

Stars illuminated the sky, small pinpoints of light across a black canvas. The moon hung high in the sky, a crescent of light that washed the land around us white. Standing underneath the tree was a young woman, about the same age as me when I had turned. I didn't need my gifts to sense the fear that radiated off her in waves. Her green eyes darted around frantically as if searching for a way out but she stayed where she was, obviously knowing what would become of her if she ran. Her gaze went first to Maria and her entire body trembled with fear. I wondered what she had threatened to get the girl to stay here like this then felt it was probably best if I didn't know.

Maria departed from us, moving to stay a safe distance away from me and the girl. She understood the dangers of being too close when one was feeding. Her dress swayed in the breeze as she stood, her hands laced together in front of her silently, a faint smile on her lips as she urged me forward. The scent beckoned to me again and I returned my gaze to the girl, whose eyes were still fixed on Maria. In a blur, I was suddenly standing before her, gazing down into her emerald eyes. She flinched, taking an involuntary step back which put her against the tree. The shaking increased as she stared into my haunting eyes until I slowly eased a calming aura into her, filling her with it.

Slowly, I watched as her eyes clouded over and filled with peaceful content, gazing up at me in a daze. Reaching up, two of my fingers brushed over her cheek, causing a rush of blood to fill them and turn them a brilliant pink. My fingers dropped lower, moving over her jaw line and down her skin to her neck. My touch was feather light, but her heart reacted instantly, a faint pulsing brushing against my fingertips. Her heartbeat filled my ears and invaded my mind, causing my mouth to part open. Desire pounded through my frozen body and I leaned closer to her, inhaling deeply: So tempting, so delicate, so delicious.

My fingers dropped from her neck and my lips replaced them, barely touching her skin. The pulse quickened further, until it was like a small bird beating its wings, vibrating my lips. Venom filled my mouth and seared my throat, causing any thin veil of control I had to fail. My teeth sank into the succulent skin of the woman's neck. She screamed in pain, a shrill terrible sound. I knew my focus had diminished; she would feel no sense of calm now. My hands gripped at her body, crushing her against me as the first drops of blood hit my tongue. I could instantly feel the spark of life on them, the life I was taking but to the monster within me, it didn't matter.

After the initial burst of blood, the flow leveled itself out and a low guttural growl rumbled through my chest, greed filling me. I sucked back on the wound, drawing the blood out faster as my teeth locked down further against her throat. The woman continued to scream, the sounds echoing through the wide open space. Her pain filled me so clearly, I almost pulled away in guilt but the monster would not allow me. This was how I had to survive. I could already feel her life ending, flowing from her into me. Soon her screams softened until they were nothing but low whimpers and the blood flow slowed down considerably, causing me to groan. It was never enough; it would never be enough.

The moment the blood supply ended, the body slipped from my grasp, landing in a heap of skin and bones on the ground. My closed eyes flickered open, immediately finding the silent figure that still stood to the side, watching me. Once she knew she had my attention she slowly came forward, a seductive smile on her face. I could feel it coming off of her, the lust she carried. It had built during my feed though I had been too distracted by the blood to notice.

With the pleasure of the blood gone, it settled on me what I had just done. Another innocent, gone. I could not let Maria know this though, not let her see just how much of a toll it took on me to hunt. She would deem me weak, an abomination of our kind. Little did she know I had been sick of this life for a long time.

She lifted her finger slowly and ran it down my chin, catching the leftover blood that I had failed to retrieve. Never taking her eyes off of mine, she placed that finger in her mouth, tasting it. She was so beautiful yet so greedy. She was always eager for more. Her smile widened and she pulled me down roughly by the hair, pressing her lips hard to mine. I responded instantly, lips moving against hers, though I wasn't as into it as I usually was. I couldn't tell exactly what it was but my movements were nearly mechanical, not filled with the same sense of lust that she held.

Even as our clothes slipped to the ground and our bodies joined as one, I wasn't consumed by a yearning for her. But as a Southern gentlemen I was not about to let Maria down because of my own unwillingness. My hands roamed along her body, exploring the mounds of her breasts, the plain of her stomach, the silky skin of her thighs. My hips connected with hers as we moved together, finding the perfect place for her maximum pleasure. In some way, I was pleased that I could bring her pleasure when I could not bring my own though that was as far as it went. Her cries of bliss filled the air around us, sure to be heard for miles for the rest of the night.


End file.
